Routes and Networks
Norwegian's New Riga Base
- Norwegian Air will open a new base in Riga, Lativa, with two Boeing 737s next year. While routes have not been announced, CEO Geir Karlsen said they will complement its existing flights to Norway. Norwegian serves Riga from Oslo and Trondheim currently, per Diio. The new base is described as a “test,” as Karlsen put it, of Norwegian’s ability to expand profitably outside of Scandinavia. A spokesperson for Riga’s hometown airline, AirBaltic, said they are “always glad” to see new flights to the city.
- Ryanair continues to dribble out its winter additions with five more new routes. The discounter will connect Edinburgh to Grenoble, Santiago (Spain), and Verona; and Bournemouth to Lanzarote and Venice in its winter schedule that begins at the end of October. Edinburgh will also regain the nonstop to London Stansted that Ryanair suspended in 2020.
- IndiGo is adding four new routes connecting secondary Indian cities in its winter schedule. The discounter will connect Ahmedabad and Jammu, and Bhubaneshwar and Ranchi four-times weekly from October 30; and Bhopal and Udaipur, and Indore and Chandigrah thrice weekly from November 1. IndiGo Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer Sanjay Kumar described the new routes as enhancing “connectivity and accessibility.” The airline’s only competition is Alliance Air on Bhubaneshwar-Ranchi, per Diio.
- Route tidbits: Saudi discounter Flynas will add new four-times weekly service between Dammam and Mumbai on December 2. The route complements the thrice-weekly service between Riyadh and Mumbai that began October 20. United has pulled seasonal service between Los Angeles and Cozumel that was to operate from May through September from its schedules, per Diio. And WestJet has pulled two Halifax routes from future schedules: Orlando (ends May 7), and St. Johns (ends January 9), per Diio.